CHINA IN AFRICA COLONIALISM / NEOCOLONIALISM: A HISTORICAL SURVEY

Resumen

The renewed engagement of China with African states and China's growing assertiveness on the global stage have spurred a polarising debate on the conceptualisation of China's involvement in Africa within the wider academic literature. Indeed, the African policy, as part of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) foreign policy of the "Going Global Strategy", poses some serious questions about the role of China as a rising power and its impacts on the current international system order- as a status quo or revisionist power. Traditionally, China's presence in Africa has been viewed through three different strands of thought: as a development partner, an economic competitor or as a coloniser. What has been coined as the "Dragon Slayers" versus "Panda Huggers" debate - on whether China represents a threat or an opportunity for the African continent - presents valid arguments on both sides. In this light, this paper argues that this polarising debate on China as a neocolonial power (threat) or as a genuine development partner (opportunity) highlights the growing uncertainty.